Hamilton Square railway station

Hamilton Square
Hamilton Square railway station
Location
Place	Birkenhead
Local authority	Wirral
Coordinates	53.3947°N 3.0139°W / 53.3947; -3.0139
Grid reference	SJ326891
Operations
Station code	BKQ
Managed by	Merseyrail
Number of platforms	3
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	1.146 million
2005/06 *	1.239 million
2006/07 *	1.134 million
2007/08 *	1.051 million
2008/09 *	2.624 million
2009/10 *	2.429 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Merseytravel
Zone	B1
History
Original company	Mersey Railway
Pre-grouping	Mersey Railway
Post-grouping	Mersey Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
1886	Opened
1903	Electrified
1977	Extended
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Hamilton Square from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Hamilton Square railway station (named on rail tickets as "Birkenhead Hamilton Sq" or "Birkenhead H Sq" ) is situated near Hamilton Square in Birkenhead, Wirral, England, on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network. It is an underground station, the platforms being reached by lifts from the surface.

History

Hamilton Square station was built by the Mersey Railway and opened on 1 February 1886, on that railway's original route from James Street station in Liverpool to Green Lane, later extended to Rock Ferry and Birkenhead Park. Just south of the station, the lines towards Rock Ferry and Birkenhead Park diverge; this junction was originally built as a flat crossing.

The Mersey Railway was electrified in 1903, as despite the journey being far quicker than travel aboard the Mersey Ferries passengers were not keen on travelling underground due to the smoke from coal-powered steam locomotives. A "Frequent electric trains" sign was erected on the outside of the station's large hydraulic lift tower (slightly below the position of the present sign) to publicise these cleaner trains.

In the 1970s, as part of the expansion programme of the Merseyrail network, a burrowing junction was built at Hamilton Square so that trains heading towards New Brighton and West Kirby did not have to cross the path of trains coming from Rock Ferry on the flat crossing. Along with the construction of the loop tunnel in the centre of Liverpool, this improved the capacity of the Wirral Line — allowing increased train frequencies. As part of this project, Hamilton Square gained a new platform (Platform 3) for New Brighton and West Kirby services, and the rest of the station was refurbished. The station now has a new shop, which sells tickets and snacks, opened in 2007 in the main booking hall.

Services

During Monday-Saturday daytime, trains operate at least every five minutes to James Street and around the Liverpool city centre loop. In the other direction, trains operate every 15 minutes to each of New Brighton, West Kirby and Chester, and every 30 minutes to Ellesmere Port. At other times, trains operate every 30 minutes to each of these four destinations, giving a service every 5–10 minutes to Liverpool.

Gallery

• 

  Hamilton Square station sign

• 

  Hamilton Square station in 2005

• 

  Hamilton Square station

External links

• Train times and station information for Hamilton Square railway station from National Rail
• Station information for Hamilton Square railway station from Merseyrail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Birkenhead Central		Merseyrail Wirral Line Ellesmere Port/Chester		James Street
Conway Park		Merseyrail Wirral Line New Brighton/West Kirby